Wrongful Convictions
The Wrongful Convictions class at Washington and Lee School of Law examined the principal causes of wrongful convictions and possible measures to prevent or remedy them.
With the guidance of experienced Lexington litigator and SVIP supervising attorney, Ross Haine, Esq., the class focused on various topics:
- Mistaken eyewitness identifications;
- False confessions;
- "Jailhouse snitches" and cooperating witnesses;
- Incompetent defense counsel;
- Police, prosecutorial and judicial misconduct;
- The role of forensic DNA testing; and
- Post-conviction remedies for innocence claims.
The course also addressed ways in which the criminal justice system might reform to improve its fairness and accuracy and emphasizes creative and innovative approaches to the problem of wrongful convictions.
Although Washington and Lee no longer offers this course, we will be providing information in the future on various topics relating to wrongful convictions. We do so in hope of providing needed information to the community-at-large. We will address:
- Wrongful Convictions, an Overview
- Interrogation Tactics
- The Use and Reliability of Science
- Prosecutorial Misconduct and Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
- Witnesses
- Confessions
- Statutory Innocence, Clemency and Pardons
- Books of Interest
- Life After Exoneration
- A Current Case of Wrongful Conviction?